High School

So hitting your students is legal here and very much encouraged. It's something that I am getting used to that I should not. It makes them listen. Otherwise, they are a complete mess. Not that I agree with it......

Above is a photograph of the inside of my school. One of my classrooms is on the left and another is on the right. The classroom in the back right is a 3rd classroom I teach in. My last classroom is outside in a small building. This is my whole school. Approximately 150 students. When school starts they line up in forms outside, just like grades, and enter the building. The boys sit on one side and the girls on the other. They sing and have a prayer. Afterwards there is an assembly. This happens twice a week. It is quiet beautiful.

1 Cyclone and 1 Tsunami

2 weeks ago, all the Peace Corps in Vava'u spent 3 nights in a Mormon Church in the center of town. There was a crazy cyclone here. The winds were rough, the trees were shaking. Coconuts were flying. I thought I was going to die. The Mormon churches are known to b

e the safest place to stay. We were very safe. It was an interesting and crazy experience because we were not allowed to leave the Mormon compound. Just imagine.....

Many houses were destroyed. Some were demolished. I live next to a church, so the Church Hall caved in as well as the Band House at my school. Neither one has the money to replace the houses at the moment. My 2 neighbors houses were damaged. My house was fine. I felt very lucky. We were without electricity for around one week. Your lifestyle is very different without running water, a running fridge and lights

. Bedtime gets earlier.

1 week later. We were camping and we got a call that there is a warning for a Tsunami in Tonga due to the crazy ring of fire. I headed home, I live on a mountain, the safest place to be during a Tsunami. Luckily, nothing happened to Tonga. I was waiting and waiting , watching the sea. I saw nothing. There was a 1 meter wave , but I could see nothing.

I am hoping there will not be another natural disaster in the South Pacific any time soon. We shall see...

Things are getting back to normal, or as normal as they can be in Tonga.